A Finish! (just not mine)

I'm taking credit, however, because my double-dog-dare is what started it all.

Our son got a chicken coop for his birthday back in May.  It's one of those prefab, easy to build coops that's ready for chickens in a day, or two.

Of course, the moment I saw his cute little coop, I wanted one for my own chickens, but Richard decided that he could build a better one, and much cheaper.  But that was back in May.  

Since then hungry raccoons have come for a few meals.  Also since then seven little bantams were hatched.  We've housed them in a coop that at least has kept the coons away.  They are getting too big for that small coop, so I mentioned our buying a pretty house like Rory's.  

Well, I got that same "build a better blah, blah, blah."  Without thinking, I spouted off (something I tend to do), "Sure, sure you can. And you will....not."

Of course, he threatened to start "tomorrow."  I didn't really believe him would.  But he did!  

He's been working on it for weeks.  It's a slow process when all you can do is cut the wood and put in screws.  He has to wait for someone to come hammer in the nails, because he suffers too much with his back to lift heavy wood or hammer any nails, especially those monsters he likes.  

Check out his resourcefulness...Rich recycled a handle that Adam removed from the carrying frame of a new door.

A porch.  Yes, he added a porch on the front of the coop.  That's so the chickens can sit and cackle in the afternoon.

There's a roosting ledge that goes all around the house. And, thinking that maybe he'd like to have a few pigeons, he added some nests from a previous pigeon-house above the roost.

My very favorite are these two old hinges. They are old and rusty and way too big for this little door, but they came from my daddy's old barn in Plaucheville.  

People have been stealing the cypress wood off the barn and these were left behind, so Rich brought them home thinking he'd find a use for them.  I love the creaky sound they make when the door opens and closes.   

Plus, because they are so rusted, the door simply stays put at any angle--less worry about it closing on a chick.

How about this?  He's just too funny.  He asked me for an old wooden spool to use for a handle on the door latch, but I didn't have one.  I did have a new plastic spool and an old bent bobbin.  So the put the bobbin in first then added the spool on top to make a perfect handle.

Nests...

and more nests.

and some really happy bantams.

Roost approved.

Not a bad life for a chicken!

Pin It Weekly #119

I've been pinning Sunbonnet Sue.  No reason, really.  I just like the cuteness.

Last weekend a nuance alligator paid us a visit.  We no longer have any laying hens and the cute bantam pair are also gone.  Poor chicks.  I hope they weren't too scared while that gator was terrorizing the neighborhood.  He (or she) sneaked back into the swampy area behind our place.  Richard saw him when he stopped for a fish snack in the pond.  We aren't allowed to kill gators but this guy made such a fast getaway, that we didn't even get to call the game wardens.  Now all we can do is keep an eye open so that, if he returns, we can call a game warden to have him removed.

      

One Maid a'Milking

I don't often post about our little farm life because there's really not much change over the course of weeks.  Sure, baby animals are cute and they tend to start coming about this time of year, but we don't have very many animals.

But today, things were just a little different.  This red mamma goat lost her kid a couple of days ago.  With no baby to empty her bag, she was miserable, so we decided to help her.  Richard held her and Jolie milked her.  We have another baby goat whose mamma is not able to provide enough milk, so we're hoping that we can convince her to nurse on both females.

While we were outdoors, I thought I'd take a few pictures and update you on the state of affairs at the Marcotte farm.  This video shows Jolie milking the goat for the first time.  In fact, it's her first time milking anything.  She was a bit timid at first, but as you can see, she got over that fairly quickly.

Meet Chanticleer.  I'm really the only one who calls him that, but he surely meets the description.  Yes, his tail feathers drag on the ground.  The brown feathers over his wings don't reach the ground, but it's pretty close.

The baby goat that Jolie tried to convince to nurse on the brown mamma.

This lamb is Kevin.  I have no idea why she has that name.  I'd have called her Coon because of the black rings around her eyes, but apparently I don't get to name the new babies.

Since all the animals (except the mean ones) are free to roam the pasture, it's difficult to get a picture of just one at a time.  Here is a video showing Jolie catching the baby goat and trying to get it to nurse.

I don't know the miniature horse's name.  We have two and this is the female that joined our menagerie just a few weeks ago.

One of the hens decided that a feed sack would make a good nest. She hasn't begun setting yet, and I don't know whether she will, but since we don't know how old the eggs are, we're leaving them for her to decide what she will do.

And that's our farm at this point in time.  Who knows what will change in the next day or week or month.  Richard sort of does his thing and I just check in from time to time, so I never really know what's happening.  I drop in to see the new babies playing, or sometimes to pick eggs, maybe just to walk around and chat with Rich.  For the most part I find out about things when Rich tells 
me--just the setup for me!

Chickie, chickie!

I walked into the studio last weekend and discovered this wooden box near the front door.  Hmm, what could that be?

The peeping sound gave a hint, but I didn't expect to see these pretties.  It turns out that they are bantam chickens, which are small chickens that are generally very hardy.  Richard decided to add a few to our flock because they are good setters.  

Should we decide to put some eggs to setting, the bantams will gladly take over a nest and do the lazy work.  They are quite docile unless the biddies are threatened.  Yes, I'm afraid of mother hens, so I probably won't mess with these any time soon.

After Richard bought the bantams, Marley decided that she had to have some chickens, so Adam bought six.  Buying chickens means buying a flock so that they have a better chance of surviving.  He bought three whites and three reds so Marley could tell them apart.  She hasn't named them, yet, but she did agree to put the biddies in the box with the bantams. Her mom was grateful for that!

See the egg in the lower right corner?  Her poppa told her that the biddies left two eggs in the brooder just for her.  At four, she believes every word that comes out of his mouth, and having her name on the egg makes the thought even more true.  The magic!

What fun we had over the weekend.  Some of the other grandkids came for supper Saturday night and the poor chicks were inundated with love. 

 I am very certain that the biddies were happy to see a couple of vehicles drive away.

At 15, Dusti's goal is to fill Snapchat with "selfies."  She must have taken 50 photos with one biddy after another.  A selfie is taking pictures of oneself with a front-facing smartphone to post on social networking websites, usually while making strange, contorted (often ugly) faces.  

I got a shot of Dusti taking a selfie, and when I mentioned it, her mother noted that taking a picture of her almost must happen while she is taking a selfie.  Nh, uhn!  Not true!

Mostly we enjoyed having part of the crew over for a meal and some fun, even if the poor chickies are a little worse for wear. But, then again, feathers do grow back out.

Have a great week,
Mary